Welcome

The graduate faculty and staff of the Music Department at California State University, Fresno, welcome you to the MA program. We offer you outstanding facilities for rehearsals, private practicing, and technologically assisted instruction.

Our campus Music Library is superior, probably the best in the entire California State University system. The Ronald Harlan Music Collection provides more than 80,000 scores and recordings of music, ranging from classical music to Delta blues, the Julliard String Quartet to the Kronos Quartet, Josquin to John Cage, Pavarotti to Little Richard.

We offer you opportunities to perform solo on and off campus, to participate in many different kinds of ensembles, to compose your own music or to arrange someone else’s, to take part in festivals and to do research projects. We do everything we reasonably can to help you find financial aid for your schooling, and to balance the heavy demands of school, work, and family.

We are here to help you with specific questions and more general professional support. Be sure to keep your copy of this handbook. Read it and refer to it frequently. Although it will not cover all questions and cases, it should provide a thorough overview of the program and its requirements. It includes information on various procedures, as well as suggested programs for particular emphases, a detailed list of when graduate courses are scheduled, and sample exams and forms. It is equally important that you also refer to the Graduate Studies section of your General Catalog.

We urge you to stay in close touch with your faculty mentor and the Graduate Program Coordinator. We will do everything possible to make your progress through the program smooth and expeditious!